1. Field
The present invention relates to maintaining medical pads within a predetermined temperature range and more particularly to preserving such pads in a ready to use condition over a period of hours.
2. Prior Art
Prior to an injection or taking a blood sample, the skin is usually sterilized by means of alcohol applied with a medical pad. Normally, the alcohol and the pad are stored at room temperature. As soon as the alcohol is applied to the pad, it begins to evaporate and cool the pad. The pad becomes cool to the touch and its initial application cools the area to which it is applied. This initial cooling is added to by the continued evaporation of the alcohol on the skin. The application of the pad is uncomfortable for the patient and it tends to make the veins withdraw from the skin, making the drawing of a blood sample difficult.
There are medical pad warming devices currently in existence as evidenced by prior art U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,939 by Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,049 by Yamashita and U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,509 by Scher. Moore describes a disposable sterile temperature controlled applicator intended to control the temperature of a particular part of the body, rather than the temperature of a medical applicator pad. Yamashita describes a chemically produced warmer which is generally not reuseable and therefore inappropriate for the present application. Scher describes a pad intended to apply heat to the body rather than a pad intended to sterilizer an area of the skin.